Ah Man stood at the door of the imperial study for a long time before her emotions slowly calmed down. She turned her head to look at her father, who was sitting behind the desk, looking pale and haggard. Tears began to fall again.
"After going to Da Zhou, he was able to bring the prince to Bei'an. My Ah Man has really grown up."
Su Jing's words were meaningful, yet filled with satisfaction and relief.
He had been holding these words in his heart when Ah Man came back from Bei'an, but he didn't expect that he would keep them in for so long.
"Murong Kai is not bad. I feel relieved to have him protecting you and your brother in the future."
Su Jing spoke with a smile, but the desolation in his eyes still hurt A Man's heart.
"I haven't married yet. It's your responsibility to protect me. Don't even think about escaping." Ah Man said softly, but her heart seemed to be caught by someone and she felt powerless.
"Are you in such a hurry to get married?"
"Are you so anxious to die?"
The father and daughter used the same tone and the same words, without any teasing, but after they were spoken, they easily hurt each other's hearts.
"The poison your mother and I were poisoned with is not incurable, but the medicinal materials are scarce. We used all the power of the whole country to make only one pill. Your mother committed suicide and left me with the chance to live. Because I am an emperor, I have a country and I can protect you and your sister. But that medicine can only extend your life for one year."
"After taking that pill, no other medicine can cure the poison in my body."
Su Jing was explaining that he was not in a hurry to die, he also wanted to live, but...
"Besides, your mother and I have a one-year agreement. I have never lied to your mother in my life."
"I didn't. This year, I will clear the court of treacherous people for you and find you a good man. I will definitely make sure that you are well taken care of so that you can have the face to see your mother."
Su Jing explained softly, his words calm and gentle, as if he had returned to a long time ago when he was speaking softly beside his mother.
"Father, I..."
"I thought I could deceive you for a year, but I didn't expect you to see through me in just a few months."
"I know you are sad. Go back and think about it carefully. No one wants to accept their fate, but when it is their fate, they have to accept it."
Su Jing's words were firm yet powerless. He didn't want to die as his two children were still young. However, this was his fate and he had tried his best to fight against it.
"As long as Father refuses to accept his fate, I will find the antidote for you even if I have to travel all over the world."
Ah Man doesn't want to accept her fate and doesn't want to lose her father.
"Go back and calm down first. You can come to your father's place anytime in the future."
Su Jing's suggestion made Ah Man feel like she had been pardoned. She nodded in panic and rushed out. However, not far from the imperial study, after making sure that her father could not hear her, she suddenly squatted down and burst into tears.
Su Jing watched Ah Man disappear from his sight, and after enduring for a long time, after making sure that Ah Man could not hear anything, he coughed heart-wrenchingly again.
Then, another pool of thick blood fell on the handkerchief in his hand.
The imperial physician said at the time that he had a year to live, but now it seems that he would be lucky if he can last half a year. He knows his own body best.
In addition to the sadness of his dying life, Su Jing felt more regret in his heart at this moment. He regretted that he had revealed his true identity in front of Ah Man.
He shouldn't have let Ah Man worry about him. His children should have grown up without worries, but...
At this point, the father and daughter still hid their sadness and loneliness from each other, wishing to devote everything to each other. However, Su Jinxiu, who left the imperial study in a hurry, was now full of resentment towards her father.
Only after she returned to her Jinxiu Palace did she find out that when she went to see her father, Xiao Yuzi, who was beside her father, had come to deliver an imperial decree to deprive Concubine Zhu of her title of imperial concubine and banish her to the cold palace.
(End of this chapter)